Linking banners to FPA for sponsor

[Porn Retreat]

Ok,

So I've been reading a bunch of different newbie tutorial's all over the place tonight on how to build a free site, and I came across one that I have a question about.

It says you should never link your banners or sponsor links directly to the sponsor's tour. Instead you should build a FPA for the sponsor selling the sponsor their, then link that directly to the sponsor's join page. At the bottom of the FPA you should put links to either other sites of yours or other sponsors for the same niche.

Is this right? Would it be considered a blind link?

Thanks.

[Useless]

What's blind about that?

As long as the surfer knows that he is getting a sponsor by clicking a banner or text link, it's not blind. A thumb linked to anything but a full size pic is a blind link. Any type of link that takes the surfer to a desination to other than that which is expected can be considered blind. If the surfer clicks your sponsor link and reaches your tranistion fpa, that's not really blind.

Those fpas are good if your sponsors don't convert well or shut down completely. That way you just swap out the fpas or links to the next sponslor. I personally don't like adding another step in the process though. I always links directly to the sponsor tour.

[Porn Retreat]

Thanks UW,

Reading the tutorial, I could see the pros and cons to doing it but wasn't sure if a sponsor link HAD to take you to the sponsor tour or it would be considered blind.

Thanks for the info. Guess maybe we'll build one or two using the FPA and see how it works. Trial and error..lol

[DangerDave]

Porn Retreat,

There are plenty of tutorials that will tell you to "do A and do B" but then never actually support those "facts" with evidence.

I personally would never link to an FPA... its another click between the surfer and the signup page...

DD

[Porn Retreat]

Thanks DD, that makes sense. I had never read anything else that mentioned doing that with a FPA which was why I wanted to get some opinions about it here. Very appreciated.

[security_man]

i personally do for a couple of reasons

• like uw said its easy to swap out sponsors if one craps out on you
• for more filtering - if they clicked an ad and then decided they didnt like the info on the fpa, links at the bottom to other choices is handy because they are pre qualified. you know they read and click banners so they are more likely to buy
• another page for serps
• you can control the popup rotation. many sponsors dont carry your referral code in the popup roatation and many surfers click a banner then the back button after the first page.
• you can even put a popunder to "free" sponsor sites like cemags which will be there when they close - again they are prequalified and this gives you one more shot at making something off of them

those are my reasons for - the reasons against which have already been stated are also quite valid. now you have to decide which is best for you

hope that helps

[Porn Retreat]

LOL....ok...so I guess I'm back to maybe trying one or two and seeing how I like it.

<---Easily influenced and confused Newbie over here.

[MadMax]

Believe me, you'll try and then abandon lots of things...we all do. The best you can do is see what works for your traffic as you build traffic up and then adjust to be more effective. |rasta|

[DangerDave]

Porn Retreat - MadMax is right.. you will try and abandon many things along the way...

That said... I would disagree with most of SMan's points..

its easy to swap out sponsors if one craps out on you

That may be true... but how often does it happen..?

Alot of people (including me) would tell you just to build and forget.. and move on...

If you build with a decent structure to your sites.. swapping out banners isnt too hard. Also using things like SSI inserts to do banners will save you plenty of headaches if the need arises to change them.


for more filtering - if they clicked an ad and then decided.......

you can control the popup rotation. many sponsors dont carry your referral code in the popup roatation and many surfers click a banner then the back button after the first page.

you can even put a popunder to "free" sponsor sites like cemags which will be there when they close - again they are prequalified and this gives you one more shot at making something off of them

This is what I call trying to over-sell.. There will be plenty of arguments against my opinion, but the surfer just clicked on a banner looking for a "certain something" and you want to hit them with more and other things.

I assume we are talking about free sites here, and free sites listed on LinkLists.....

So.. in theory the surfer has entered the linklist, sought out the category they are seeking, and then followed a link to a (F)site that they believe contains what they are looking for.

If that free site is structured correctly.. it will get the surfer "juiced up".. using its content, text, and promos....

So by the time the surfer hits the "banner" and heads to the sponsor, they should be ready to buy, or at least interested in buying... putting another step in there.. (IMO) only offers them another place to change their mind.

Hit them with pop-ups, or more choices(links) you have increassed the chance of losing a sale, not increased it.

DD